Improved dredging apparatus



i NITEE STATES PATENT `f EERNARD HUGHES. AND DANIEL HUGHES, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

INIPROVED DREDGING APPARATUS.

L k Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 95.114, dated September 21, 1869.

.To all whom it may concern,.- y

Be'itknown that we, BERNARD HUGHES and DANIEL HUGHEs, of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have inyerited certain new and useful Improvements in `a Dredging Apparatus; and we do hereby declare` that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in whichi Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section of the dredge and accompanying lighter, show ing` portions of the "apparatus `in elevation. Fig; 2 is a plan View `with one-half of the` apparatus broken away. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section of the lighter F at the line a:,Fig.'1."` Fig. 4 is a similar section at the line y. i y

Similar letters refer to corresponding parts inthe different gures.`

The nature of our invention consists, mainly, in combining with a dredge of peculiar construction a lighter or lighters so arranged and operated as to `greatly facilitate the removal of earth from the bottom of a canal or channel.

To enable others to 'make and use our invention, we will describe its construction and "operation.

We construct the dredgebcat A, Figs. l and end short shaft, a', the number of such frames emp eyed depending uponthe width of the boat. The chain-wheels c are keyed to the shaft a at proper distances apart, and the corresponding wheels, c', are similarly secured to the shafts a', twoupon each. Theshaft a is driven by chains d, running over chain-wheels e upon the outer ends of the shaft, power being communicatedfrom a steam-enginelocated y in the rear of the boat through shaft D and chain-wheel j'. i

lle provide the endless chains g, ruiming upon the chain-wheels c and c', to each pair4 of i which, corresponding to one swinging frame,

"is secured a row of buckets or shovels, E.

These buckets may be constructed of boileru iron with steel `cutting-edges, and provided with hinged bottoms ef, Fig. l, held bya latch over pulleys upon a suitable transversev timber. The suspending-shaft a must be located sufficiently forward of the bow of the boat tov allow the swinging frames to be drawn up by the ropes, and the frame-work B' mustV be strongly constructed to sustain the weight and strain imposed upon said shaft. The bails h are bent in such ashape as to permit the free passage of the buckets.

In the. above-described arrangement it is evident that each row of buckets is made independent of every other in its adjustment through the separate swinging framesU, and also that when mot-ion is given to the chains g inthe direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. l the buckets are drawn into the soil just as far as the adjustment of the ropes h will allow. The bucketsE are not located upon the different sets of chains in the same transverse line, but are arranged so that but one, or at most two, are in the soil at the same time, as shown in Fig. 2 and in outlines in Fig. 1.

The advantages of this arrangement of the dredging machinery are: The buckets will readily enter and eXcavate soil or rubbish of `any kind; but upon meeting an obstruction too large to enter the buckets the swinging frames rise and pass over it. Ve are also enabled to make a wider excavation than is possible under the old system, while the strain upon themachinery is no greater. In case any accident occurs to the buckets or chains they may be readily elevated for repairs by the ropes h and drums i, as shown by the red lines in Fig. 1.

To receive and convey away the dirt from the dredge, we provide a lighter, F, having upon its upper deck four railways, G and'G, two 0f which are shown in Fig. 2, laid longi tudinally with the boat, and upon which cars H run. The lighter is attached to the dredgeboat by bars f, secured to the sides of each in such a manner as to allow an independent vertical movement to both and prevent transverse or longitudinal separation, and at the saine time ladmit of the boats being readily joined or separated, as desired. At the stern of the lighter we provide the endless chain j, running transversly to the lighter over chainwheels j', Figs. l and 3, the latter placed at a proper distance apart and driven by a shaft, k, which receives power from a small engine located in the hold. Across these chains, at such points as to register with two of the railways, we secure the sections of track g', upon which the cars H stand when receiving mud v the car to the position shown in red lines, Fig.

from the bucket.

In Figs. 2 and 3 we have shown the position ofthe cars upon one set of endless chains, the set upon the other half of the boat being similar and similarly operated. If desirable, rods with rollers fitted to their ends vmay be attached transversely to the chainsj, the rollers ruiming upon a track bolted Vto suitable timbers in the boat for the purpose of supporting the chains and cars. thisarrangement of endless chains is to shift cars from one track to another when replac- Y ing loaded with empty ones.

It will be seen that on account of the inclination of the elevating apparatus on the dredge the cars may be run under the periphery of the upper chaiii-wheels, c, Figs. l

.and 2, far enough to receive the mud from the buckets as they are successively dumped at the point shown by the red lines z, Fig. l. The inclined floor or platform r is laid under the shifting-chains j, to conduct .away mud and water which may fall from the buckts or lcars above.

The lighter F may be constructed of anyrequired length and provided with a sufficient number of cars to fill the two central tracks.

At the bow of the lighter we loeatethe'turn- 'tables I and I', Figs. l, 2, and 4, havingtracks 4laid across them, as shown, the outer one, I',

of which can be elevated as desired by means of bent levers l, or by a rack .upon its spindle 'and pinion l', Fig. et, operated by power. XVe

also provide the tramway n, having a section of, railway vlaid upon it, and hinged at the inner end to a vertically-sliding frame, m, Fig. 4, so placed that the tracks register with the tracks upon the turn-table I. The inner end of the tramway may be elevated with the turntable by means of the arm o, secured to its spindle, by catching under a projection vupon the frame m. This elevating apparatus becomes necessary from the fact that the banks of channels and canals are of varying height, and it may be desirable to unload the lighter where the'hanks are considerably higher than the deck, involving unnecessary labor in rolling the cars up the incline. Our kplan allows the tramway to lie in such a position (shown in red lines, Fig. 4) that the cars may roll easily off by their own gravity. Two or three sections yof tramway may be used, if necessary, hinged'to each other, so as to fold up out of the way when not in use. In case it is practicable 'The object of K `and moved down the saine tracks. the space under buckets clear, and the other debris are excavated by the buckets and elevated far enough to allow it to drop into the cars H, at which point the buckets are dumped by suitable means. Suppose the cars to be standing upon the two outer railways, G, we roll one upon the endless chains j, which are then i given part of a revolution, transferring 3, in line with the empty railway G. Another car is now rolled forward upon the outer track, lling the place of the transferred one. Since the saine operation takes place at both sides of `the boat, four cars now stand side by side under the elevator-buckets. Vhen these are lled, the dredging machinery is stopped and the two central cars pushed down the tracks G to the bow of the lighter, and the two outer ones shifted to the center by the endless chains This 4leaves cars ymay be moved up, as before, to be lled. As soon as the two central tracks are filled with loaded cars the lighter is detached from the dredge and -propelled to any place where it is desired to deposit the load. For this purpose the boat is drawn alongside the bank or towpath, and the cars successively run upon vthe turn-table I, and from thence -to I, where they areelevated sufliciently to give thetrainway the proper inclination, and rolled off to 'be dumped. They are then rolled vback upon I', turned and rolled upon the outer tracks, G, for use, as before described. Meanwhile another similar lighter may be loading, so Athat no time be lost.

W'e have shown in Fig. 2 one set of vbuckets E to each car H; but it may be desirable to use more than one, since in such case thestrain uponeach bucket in excavating would be reduced. l

The cars may be constructed with bottoms inclined from the center outward, as shown in Fig. 4, and with hinged sides retained by a catch, so that they may be easily emptied.

The cars and buckets may be provided with small holes near their upper edges, to allow the water that may be drawn up to drain out.

The motion of the boats and vthat of the dredging machinery may be in the opposite direction to that indicated by the arrows, iii

-may be done when the Water is in the canal and the soil soft and easily removed. All the machinery may be arranged in boats that Will enter any lock, and the width of the excavation is onlyr atrifle less than the Width of the boat. The lighters also greatly facilitate the removal of the mud, since the latter does not require to be handledat all7 Abut only shifted in bulk and dumped.

What We claim as our inventiomand desire to secure by Letters `Patent, is-.

l. In combination with a dredging apparatus, a detachable lighter, E, constructed and arranged substantially as described. l

2. Providing the lighter Fwith one or more turn-tables, for the purposes set forth:

3. Providing the outer turn-table, I', with a suitable elevating device7 as and for the purposes specified.

4. The elevating tramway n, 'arranged substantially las described, in combination with the lighter F, for the purpose set forth.

BERNARD HUGHES. DANIEL HUGHES.

Witnesses:

WM. S. LoUGHBoRoUGH, F. H. CLEMENT. 

